Nojoqui
is site of 4-H event
This year was the Nojoqui Showing in — Nojoqui — on
May 10. Many people from the vast 4-H groups were there, including Rayne, also
known as Chupacabra, Chase Cathcart, Izzy Anredegg and a very well known older
man named Antonio Micheal
Marzolla.
Oddly, he has the same name as I!
Marzolla was a Peace Corps
volunteer from 1973-1977 and his job is the 4-H Youth Development Advisor for
Santa Barbara County, and he got the job in 1983! He is also in charge of the
UC Santa Barbara Master Gardener Program. The Master Gardener program trains
volunteers to provide information, workshops, and programs for home gardeners.
Public information resources offered by Master Gardeners include plant, pest
and problem identification, compost production and cultural practices for
growing vegetables, fruits and ornamental plants.
I sat down and
interviewed him: he is an honest person who loves his work and never gives up.
Plus, he has been to so many places! A couple of them were Italy, Costa Rica,
Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Lesotho, and New England. You could say he
travels with the wind!
Ha!
Marzolla speaks Spanish and Italian, two good languages to know.
He then told me a story about a kid named Miguel. One time, Marzolla took these
kids to Santa Cruz Island and with him were Miguel and other children. Miguel
didn’t speak too much English, so this made it hard for him to make new
friends. The other boys, however, were from the city, while Miguel came from
agricultural area. When they got there, they stayed at the Natural Reserve
Research Station on the island. There was a mini-museum collection at the
station that was open to the group.
Miguel was amazed. He was so excited when he saw the ancient
arrowheads and fossils that he wanted to become an archeologist and study these
magnificent artifacts himself. After the tour, Marzolla took the kids on an
after dark hike in the woods. Miguel was still very disappointed that he didn’t
know any English. Everyone was scared, except for Miguel. Since he lived in the
country, he wasn’t afraid of the dark. The other kids were so impressed; they
wanted to get to know Miguel better. This really made Marzolla happy, because
he had given Miguel a chance to make friends. It truly was an inspiring story.
However, Marzolla also had a big interest in the watershed program. John Wesley
Powell, a scientist and geographer, put it best when he said that a watershed
is “that area of land, a bounded hydrologic system, within which all living
things are inextricably linked by their common water course and where, as
humans settled, simple logic demanded that they become part of a community.”
Watersheds come in all shapes and sizes. They cross county, state, and national
boundaries. No matter where you are, you’re in a watershed!
But
Marzolla’s story wasn’t the only fun part of my visit to this year’s 4-H Exhibit Day at Nojoqui. There were many
livestock, such as bunnies, goats, sheep, turkeys, dogs, and steers. Many new
kids were learning from Cruz Valdez, a heifer and steer expert. He taught them
how to move the 4-Hers’ heifers when they were not cooperating, simply by
pushing them off balance! Yet the most exciting part of the Nojoqui meet was
the Round Robin. The Round Robin is where winners from all livestock who win
first place in showmanship switch to different livestock to see if they can do
a good job with another animal and be judged. This was a very successful day
for 4-H, because when you do an activity that kids love, it makes them want to
try different things. So, in any case, I would say that this Nojoqui Exhibit
Day meeting was a day worth attending.